Gramps,
You'll find that most of us here try to go direct to the pattern designer when purchasing patterns, however, that's not always possible. The bad part about going through the pattern distributors, is how they treat the pattern designers. Some of the distributors have taken it upon themselves to modify the patterns and the pattern instructions to suit there own needs, without regard to what the pattern designer intended the user to see.
You may note that our very own Sheila Landry (scrollgirl) produces some beautiful patterns, but you may notice that her patterns are only sold through the Wooden Teddy Bear, and not through Scroller. There's a reason for that, and it doesn't reflect well upon Scroller! In the end though, just go to her site and buy direct from her. That way she gets ALL the money for all her (and Keith's) hard work. Steve has many links on his home page that will take you to some of the designers' sites. Check them out, and if you can't find a site for the designer of a specific pattern, just ask here. We can probably track down the designer for you!
Hope this helps